Start of a New Art

It has been awhile since I felt determined to pursue a hobby.  Baking has been a hobby of mine for quite some time now.  I have been baking most, if not all, of the pastries at home for the kids' breakfasts and snacks.  I bake almost every day, and it has been therapeutic for me especially when I need to let go of the stresses from that day. 

I particularly enjoy "creating" at home.  I love being "home economical". I take pride in saving a few dollars by doing it myself at home, thus the term economical.  I tried to do many things at home myself, especially those we typically spend money to have it done elsewhere.  This does not mean I was successful in all of my attempts.  But since I don't receive formal training of any sort, I try to teach myself by practice and research.  I learned how to sew and cut my kids’ hair.  I have been cutting my own hair for almost a year now.  It is not perfect by any means but I’m glad I have saved some few dollars by doing so. 

Baking is something I taught myself how to do as well.  I started baking with my sisters when I was in high school.  We baked on some occasions but definitely not persistently.  I have been baking quite frequently for almost of a couple of years now, starting with just bread, breakfast muffins, cookies and cakes for the kids. 

Last year, I started making more cakes and trying to decorate them myself.  I noticed cake decorating is a growing trend these days and I often wondered if I can do them myself.  The first cake I have decorated is my husband’s birthday cake.  He loves lemon and I wanted to make him a lemon cake with a lemon curd filling.  Since I don’t know where to get this from, I opted to bake him his cake but I was stumped with how to decorate it after.  I didn’t know what I was doing then and just freehandedly did it. I thoroughly enjoyed it after that; I then started making cakes for family and friends. 

Today I am so excited to start on this journey to teach myself how to master the art of cake decorating.   I don’t mean I know I will successfully master it, but rather attempt to do my best.  I am not methodological by any means, and that is why I am starting this blog.  I want to pursue this art one step at a time and this blog will help me achieve the methodology I need. 

I bought a book about cake decorating and thought maybe I should start with that.  I only got it yesterday and no, I haven’t read it yet.  I plan to start tonight, after the kids go to bed and after I bake my apple bread, using the apple filling from the apple turnovers I made earlier. 

Page 1 here I come.  Tell me do I really need to read the preface?  Maybe that one I’ll skip.  Oh boy, I think I need more discipline than this blog will give me.  Let’s see tomorrow.